Police officer with 50 000 BGN bribery for concealing VAT fraud on “Gradus”

Ivan Grudev Filipov is a former police officer arrested in 2010 for bribing a BOP employee in Stara Zagora. Filipov offered 50,000 leva. of the anti-mafia to sweep data on crimes committed under the checks it leads on companies “Gradus” with numbers from 1 to 7 and “Biser Oliva” AD. The companies are all related to the brothers Luka and Ivan Angelovi – together and separately. In 2017, Filipov was convicted at first instance. But the checks for VAT draining by Angelovi’s companies through fictitious exports to Romania, which defrauded the treasury with BGN 10 million VAT, have been successfully swept away.

Angelovi’s names became popular after businessman Svetoslav Ilchovski accused them of a bunch of crimes before the Revision Commission – ranging from manipulating the stock exchange by inflating the assets of their companies through fictitious transactions to bribes for Prime Minister Borisov in gold bars and paying for playmates. Especially ominous sounded the claim that Ilchovski was shown a video of abuses of a detainee while he was on the name day of Ivan Angelov at the Vitoshko-Studena residence, where Borisov was also present. According to the businessman, he paid racketeering for years to be left alone.

In his defense speech before the same committee, Angelov denied these allegations, but confirmed the impression that he was particularly close to Prime Minister Borisov, with whom he often played cards and were associated with male friendship. He also incriminated himself in impure deals. It became clear that Angelov had managed to sell at a profit the famous dates from Abu Dhabi, which were supposedly humanitarian aid, and also to receive assistance personally from the Prime Minister for the recognition of veterinary certificates for the export of his products. The latter also raises questions about trading influence in his favor.

Fictitious export to Romania for BGN 10 million VAT

Several independent sources claim that as of 2010, the Angelov brothers are under investigation, assigned to the National Investigation Service, according to data on the draining of about 10 million VAT through fictitious export of agricultural products to Romania. There are also inspections by the NRA, which are particularly worrying for chicken producers in Stara Zagora. In the end, the inspections are completed without problems for them. Meanwhile, Angelovi have built a close relationship with Prime Minister Borissov, who takes them to Japan on the government plane.

The reasoning of the case against Filipov, set out in 20 pages, describes how he tries to motivate his colleague from the CA “BOP” to implement a scheme to complete the inspection with a positive result for the companies inspectedp. The materials of the same probe should have been sent to the Prosecutor’s Office with an opinion of termination, due to lack of evidence of a crime. With these actions, he had to the “false and incomplete findings in the tax audit acts for past periods of time” are confirmed.

Biased revisions and checks

The Court points out that from the beginning of 2007 to mid-2010 the employees of N APcarried out numerous tax audits and inspections to establish facts and circumstances for the offsetting or refund of VAT in tax sites and commercial companies in which partners or shareholders were the brothers Ivan and Luka Angelovi. Among the companies inspected are the numerous companies “Gradus” and “Biser Oliva” – a total of over 10 legal entities.

The Court also states that “due tobiased conduct of tax audits and inspections that ended with an unreasonably favorable result for taxable persons” related to the Angelov family, an internal inspection was initiated by the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Finance. In As a result, several auditors were dismissed and disciplinary penalties were imposed on several heads of tax teams, including the Rectorof the NRA Stara Zagora, who made conscious mistakes in the audits and inspections.

In this case, the angels themselves appear as witnesses. They were not charged with sponsoring the crime because the prosecution failed to gather sufficient evidence against them.

BRRD sent questions and a request for comment to Ivan Angelov through the contact email of “Gradus” and through the user form of the site, but by the editorial end of the article no response was received.

50 000 EUR through an intermediary close to Angelovi

A witness in the case is Mitko Minchev Nikolov, who during the pre-trial proceedings was a regional director of the State Lottery for Southeast Bulgaria. He is the connecting link – an intermediary between the owners of the inspected companies and the convicted at first instance employee of the Ministry of Interior. Nikolov declared that he was close to Ivan Angelov, and that before his retirement from the Ministry of Interior he was Chief of the Highway Police of the Ministry of Interior Ivan Grudev Filipov. Nikolov also knew Toshko Hristov Totev since the mid-1990s. He was also his boss while working for the Ministry of Interior, but in the Serious Crimes Department. Accordingly, after Totev retired, Nikolov assisted Ivan Angelov for his appointment as a driver. Nikolov states that in the summer of 2010 Totev told him that an inspection of the companies is forthcoming of the Angels. The man him He asked if they could not help make the check “more objective” together. In Testimony In pre-trial proceedings, Nikolov claims that Totev works as a driver, but is “a commandant and one of the close people of the owners” and in particular of Leevan Angelov. This fact also explains Totev’s awareness of the tax audits of the companies owned by Atanasov, as well as the problems encountered as a result of these inspections.

At the same time Mitko Nikolov does not hide that after the conversation Totev was contacted by Filipov, of whom he was also a chief, but claimed that he contacted him to check whether a particular employee of the “BOP” would carry out the police inspection ofAngelov’s companies. Nikolov explains that he made a commitment to Totev to talk to Filipov whether there will be a check and whether assistance can be provided. To help companies where the witness ANDvan Angelov is the owner, Nikolov assigned to his former subordinate Filipov to contact with the anti-mafia. On Nicole was aware that Filipov is in good collegial and even friendly relations with the employee he subsequently tried to bribe. The two worked together in the past in the Economic Police Sector at the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior Stara Zagora.

The purpose of the bribe, proposed and promised by the police officer convicted at first instance, was a police check provoked without factual grounds to invalidate the findings of the disciplinary commissions as new circumstances within the meaning of the TSSPC and thus to continue the ban on re-revision of companies. of the Angels. The Angel Verification Requested should have been conducted on the basis of data provided by the themselves and to end with a positive result for the inspected companies. The employee of the CA “BOP” had to find that there was no violation in commercial activity of companies. Angelovi’s goal is for the prosecution to rule out the non-initiation of criminal proceedings in respect of them. A completely explainable behavior, if there is a well-founded hypothesis that they have committed the tax crimes in question.

It is documented that Filipov expressed a desire to the officer of ” BOP” the police inspection to confirm the incomplete findings of tax inspections and audits. Thus, the “results” of the orchestrated police inspection, which he sought through the anti-mafia known to him, would oppose the findings of the internal disciplinary inspection by the inspectorate of the Ministry of Finance. Filipov guided the anti-mafia on how to direct the inspection to a period when companies are least vulnerable. Policeman required classified information about any “development” initiated in relation to the companies and whether special intelligence means were applied to the company representatives.

At 18 In October 2010, the policeman from the Highway Police gave the anti-mafia the promised BGN 1,000 to continue carry out the police check in a manner planned by the Filipov. In view of of needs and the implementation of the operational combination, the The anti-mafia is “assigned“ fictitious inspection in connection with the activities of commercial companies, own and controlled from the Angels. This happens after a working meeting with employees of the Internal Security Directorate on 15 October 2010. The handing over of the bribe and much of the communication on this case is documented through the application of special intelligence means.

Waiting for the statute of limitations to expire…

Filipov’s arrest dates back to late 2010. The case went to court in 2013.

The reasons for the sentence came out 3 years later, and they are only 20 pages. 10 years after the arrest of Filipov has barely passed the first instance and is pending before the Plovdiv Court of Appeal. If the appellate court upholds the decision of the first instance and this happens within a reasonable time, the case can also be resolved by the Supreme Court of Cassation before it is time-barred. If, however, the Court of Appeals remanded it for some motive, there would probably be no conviction. As for the case for VAT fraud for BGN 10 million, it was terminated by the prosecutor’s office without consequences.

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За да научавате преди всички за нови разследвания, инсталирайте си нашето мобилно приложение:

Щом сте стигнали дотук, вероятно вече си задавате въпроса как се финансира този журналистически проект.

От създаването си BIRD се финансираше от подаяния в нашето журналистическо чекмедже.
Но на чекмеджето му мина времето. Даже прокуратурата затвори онова Чекмедже, знаете кое…
Нашето финансиране влиза в крак с епохата. Фондонабиращата ни кампания вече се казва

#МятайСБЪРД

Дарявай за BIRD и мятай павета в блатото с корумпирани политици и други тарикати.
Те тайно премятат пари от твоя джоб в своя. Те размятат безнаказано лукса си пред очите на всички. Няма кой да ги накаже ако се надяваш на държавата.
Мятай, за да ги накажеш ти. Да дариш за разследващите журналисти е гаранция, че гадостите, с които силните на деня те замерят, ще им се върнат.
Можеш да метнеш веднъж, за да ти олекне!
Но по-добре е да мяташ редовно всеки месец и да се чувстваш трайно удовлетворен.
А най-добре е да доведеш приятели и да мятаме редовно заедно в екип. С мощен залп!
*За кръстник на новата ни фондонабираща кампания избрахме другарката Ваня. Благодарим й за вдъхновението!